Always Open & Shut Garage Door Service

June is Garage Door Safety Month

Increasing garage door safety awareness
The International Door Association and the Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association have designated June as Garage Door Safety Month. Both associations and their affiliated manufacturers and dealers will be working to increase awareness of the possible hazards of garage doors and automatic opener systems, and the need for periodic inspection and maintenance to keep them safe.

Give your garage door a safety check to insure it’s in proper working order by using these ten garage door safety and security tips.

1. Make sure garage door opener control button is out of the reach of small children.

2. Do not let children play with garage door remote controls.

3. Consult the owner’s manual and learn how to use the garage door’s emergency release feature.

4. Visually inspect the garage door each month. Look at springs, cables, rollers and pulleys for signs of wear. Do not attempt to remove, adjust or repair these parts or anything attached to them. A trained door repairman must make adjustments to these parts, which are under high tension.

5. Test the garage door opener’s reversing mechanism monthly by placing a 2 x 4 board or a roll of paper towels in the door’s path. If the door does not reverse after contacting the object, call a qualified garage door professional for repair. If the opener has not been replaced since 1993, seriously consider a new one with auto-reverse as a standard feature.

6. Never place fingers between door sections and explain the dangers to children. If you have small children, consider a door with panels that can’t pinch.

7. Do not leave the garage door partially open. When activated again, it may travel downward and come in contact with an object in its path. This also impacts your home’s security as well.

8. While on vacation, unplug the garage door opener unit or use a wall vacation lock console security switch, which renders remotes unusable and is an optional accessory to most openers.

9. If the opener does not have rolling-code technology, which changes the access codes each time the opener is used to prevent code grabbing, be sure to change the manufacturer’s standard access codes on the opener and remote control, or consider investing in a newer model with more safety and security features that are now standard.

10. A new trend in home invasion is gaining access to the home by stealing the opener or car. Never leave the remote control in the car or with a parking attendant. Consider using a key chain remote and always lock the entry to the inside of your home – especially if your opener is programmed to your vehicle. It is a small inconvenience for safety and security.

Although you should provide monthly safety checks and maintenance to your garage door system, an annual visit from a trained door systems technician can keep your door operating safely and smoothly for a long time.

Broken Torsion Spring

When the door won’t open by hand or with the garage door opener, the problem more than likely is a broken garage door spring. Look up or to the side and check your springs!
There are different types of springs, some doors use only one. Garage door springs are under enormous pressure and you can get seriously injured or even killed working on them.

Always have a professional garage door technician replace the torsion spring for you, check everything with the technician after the repair is complete.
According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, garage overhead door related accidents account for thousands of injuries every year (average of 30,000 per year), including fractures, crushing and amputations.
Some garage overhead doors have safety mechanisms that prevent it from falling down when the supporting spring fails. Check with your local garage door service company to verify if your garage door is equipped with this feature.
There are three types of the garage door spring systems utilizing tracks / side rails in the US:
1. garage door torsion spring(s) on a torsion tube above the garage door opening
2. garage door extension springs that are attached on either side of the door and stretch along the horizontal part of the track when the door is closed
3. A Torque Master torsion spring system where the torsion spring is above the garage door inside a galvanized tube.
You might also have an old, one piece door that swings outward as it goes up and overhead. This particular design will have springs mounted on the sides of the door opening – at about your waist height, secured to a lever bracket system that extends the springs toward the ceiling at the door closing. This is an old and dangerous type of system that is no longer manufactured. If you have this type of system in the garage, replacement parts may be very difficult to obtain and garage door replacement may be your only option.
Garage door torsion springs are either single or double spring designs. The spring will usually break while under the maximum stress which is when the overhead garage door closes or is closed. If you’re closing it manually and it happens during this operation, don’t try to prevent it from crashing down, let it go.
When one of the two garage door springs breaks, it is beneficial to have them both replaced at the same time.
Having an old and new spring installed will:
 Save money in the long run eliminating a future service call when the old spring breaks sooner than later.
 the door will lose proper balance
 It is much safer for the technician since the original springs were installed as a set, so when one breaks the other is probably not far behind.
Torsion springs for residential overhead garage doors have anywhere between 5,000 – 30,000 uses before anticipating garage door spring replacement.
Wayne Dalton Torque Master springs – Now are equipped with a drop safe system so if your springs lose tension on the way down, the door will stop instead of coming to the floor.
Garage door extension spring systems will include one or two on each side of your overhead garage door. A critical issue with those springs is to have a safety cable installed inside of each single spring and secured properly, so when the door opens and closes, the spring can freely slide on this cable!
When the garage door spring snaps without the cable inside, broken ends might severely injure anyone standing within their range. The cables should be included with the overhead garage doors hardware (assuming that they came equipped with extension springs), but A LOT OF PEOPLE either forget to install them, or don’t read instructions and maybe assume that they are not required.
So remember to be safe and give us a call to service your garage door!
Call or click now to receive a free tune-up with a paid service call! ($40.00 value)